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Ph.D. in Education Policy

Students in the Education Policy Ph.D. degree program pursue an individualized program of study that reflects their specific interests in education policy on the local, state, national, or international levels. At the heart of the Ph.D. program is the research apprenticeship, where students work on projects alongside faculty members whose research interests align with their own.

Overview

The Ph.D. degree program in Education Policy requires a minimum of 16 courses of approved graduate work taken at the University of Pennsylvania beyond the baccalaureate degree, is full-time, and is designed to take four years to complete. Students pursue an individualized program of study that reflects their specific interests, are required to write a significant qualifying paper and complete a dissertation on an issue in education.

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At the heart of the Ph.D. program is the research apprenticeship, where students work on research projects alongside faculty members. Doctoral students are matched with Education Policy faculty members whose research interests align with their own. Through the research apprenticeship, students will learn to design, conduct, and communicate the results of empirical research, including presenting papers at scholarly conferences and submitting articles to scholarly journals for publication.

Transfer Courses

Course units of graduate course work taken prior to matriculation into the Ph.D. degree program, if approved by both your faculty advisor and the Ed Policy Chair, may be substituted for one or more of the above required courses. However, students are still required to complete 16 course units while at GSE.

Preliminary Examination

At the end of the coursework, students complete a preliminary examination (also known as the qualifying paper or comprehensive examination) covering relevant areas of education policy.